Uncover Your Roots: Exploring Ancestry & Family History
One thing I have learned on this genealogy journey is that you never really know who is paying attention, who is quietly reading my blog posts, scrolling through my Facebook posts, or listening when I talk about my research and my findings. I must admit that I give my family a very hard time because... Continue Reading →
My grandmother, Gladys Denson Mays, Class of 1931 Valedictorian (standing back row center), Newport Colored Schools
One of the things I always do before a research trip is go through old research notes to see what loose ends, I have. While preparing for my trip to RootsTech and the Family Search Library, I was going through some of my research notes from the last six months. One of the things that... Continue Reading →
February has always been my favorite month of the year because it's Black History Month. I know in February I will be able to find all kinds of Black books, apparel, and information that isn't readily available in stores throughout the rest of the year. During February I know I will be able to watch... Continue Reading →
As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, many families will gather to celebrate Independence Day with reflection, gratitude, and tradition. It is a milestone that invites us to look back at the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and consider how far the nation has come since that moment. For family historians,... Continue Reading →
June is NPE (Non-Paternal Event) Awareness Month, a time dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding of unexpected parentage discoveries. In genealogy, an NPE generally refers to a situation where a person's expected biological parent is not their biological parent. Today, the term is often used more broadly to include unexpected discoveries involving parentage, adoption, donor... Continue Reading →
My grandparents moved into our family home in 1939. For more than 80 years, that house held generations of memories, photographs, family papers, church programs, newspaper clippings, and pieces of community history. Over the past couple of years, I have been slowly sorting through those collections, one box at a time. Now the question has... Continue Reading →
Each year, Juneteenth offers an opportunity to reflect on freedom, resilience, and the sacrifices made by those who came before us. While many people celebrate by attending community events, festivals, and family gatherings, I believe it can also be a meaningful time to connect with our family history. As genealogists, we spend countless hours researching... Continue Reading →
Wayman Mays with his son, Russell; William Cummings with his son Phillip; and Russell Mays with his son Allen
Gladys Denson Mays: June 11, 1913 - August 22, 1999
My In-Laws, William and Phyllis Govan Cummings wedding reception - Little Rock, Arkansas 1973
As I continue sorting through more than 80 years of memories collected inside our family home, I kept discovering treasures that tell not only my family’s story, but the story of our community as well. One of those treasures is a large 1963 class photograph from W.F. Branch High School, the historic Black school that... Continue Reading →
Recently, I spent time at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies Memory Lab digitizing family scrapbooks, baby books, and fragile photographs using their overhead scanner. Many of these items are decades old and too delicate for a traditional scanner, so this process allowed me to carefully preserve these family treasures while creating digital copies for... Continue Reading →
Last weekend, I visited the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies in their DIY Memory Lab working on the next phase of my family digital archive project. I had a two-hour appointment for their scanner station. I used their overhead Snap Scanner to digitize a collection of family scrapbooks and baby books from the 1960s and... Continue Reading →
My nephew, Patrick E. Mays, Catholic High School Class of 2026
For the past few years, every genealogy conference I have attended has had multiple sessions on AI in genealogy. I must admit I was a little intimidated by the tern Artificial Intelligence when it came to my family history research. Then I thought maybe I should know exactly what AI is before I decide if... Continue Reading →
Journey Through the Generations 